My Day In Pictures

Regarding the lace project: I didn't finish it, not even close. Will frog the several inches I did, since I misunderstood the pattern, as I so often do, and try again after life has settled down.
My brother's birthday went well. He got all sorts of cool sharp things to play with (seriously!) so I guess that's a sign he's growing up. He wants a black cape, and has given me time to make it past his birthday, especially since I don't have that kind of yarn right now. A guy friend at school wants a black cape too; not sure when I'll fit that in...I have plenty of other projects in my head, I hope to have a list tomorrow.
So. How was my day?
Well,
I went to school,

Made a lot of progress on my skirt (should be done by the end of the week)

(this was earlier than today) spun up all of that lovely silk, still deciding what to do with it,

When I got home, I:
Admired my new T-shirt (we all needed nicknames on the back, if you recall, my initials are HAH...my favorite that I know of is "Suspence" for a guy friend-not the same one who wants the cape; his name's Spencer...)


Played my cello

Now, instead of doing this:

I should be doing this:

Which is hard homework, but I'm rewarding myself with this:

I see lots of bitty knitted items in my future!(smiles)

As my dad would say, hasta lasagna!

Stop Everything!

This is the second post in two days! Let's look at some yarn to celebrate!
Yay!
Now, you may be wondering where I got this lovely yarn. Why, the Party 300!
If you don't have a Ravelry account (and if you don't, go over there and sign up, NOW!) you won't be able to see this link. Party 300 was a raffle of sorts in the Teen Knitters and Crocheters group. It was lots of fun--I can't wait for the group to reach another milestone.
Anyway, one of the prizes was this fine yarn in the colorway "Into the Mystic". It's a beautiful purple, with overtones of red and deeper purple; I'm not sure how it looks on your screen.
The kind donator of this wonderful yarn was a Kris from Sonny and Shear. Fantabulous yarn over there, make sure and check it out!!
Now that my drooling is over, what am I going to use this great yarn for, might you ask?
Why, this lovely vest from the Spring 2008 copy of Interweave Knits! I was really looking forward to wearing something substantial knitting wise to a cello recital I'm playing in (I'm quite awful; if you're anywhere nearby northern Illinois around 2:00 central, be sure to plug your ears). My mom has made an unofficial bet with me that I couldn't get this done by Saturday.
I do love a challenge, and I have a free period on Tuesday and Wednesday at school this week-maybe I'll even knit in the cafeteria again.....
Perhaps this week I'll have a post a day, if only to keep ya posted!

In other business:
My lovely little brother, BowyerOyew, has started up a blog of his own, calling it Da bow spot. Could you give a little hello for me? Thanks.
(Oh yeah, and guys? I kinda lost 1/2 of the green yarn for his birthday present....anybody have any suggestions on what I can make with a skein of grey Cascade 220 and around 100 yards of alpaca green yarn? Thanks.)

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny...

....little sweaters for to knitty! (Hah, took me a while to come up with that!)
This is the yarn I have finished for the mini sweaters for my teacher's end of the year presents. I already have three done, two more to sew up. It's really nice to have some quick projects for a change; I knitted two up in one movie!
As you can see, they're larger than my prototype, but no biggie. They're still cute 'n' tiny, as you can see by how bitty they are compared to my lipstick (from the musical, I'm feeling a tad nostalgic).
I am sure I will have plenty of this yummy yarn left over, which means I'll be making something else for yours truly:
Wristlettos/Anklettos! I can't wait to start them; they'll be my first accessory in a while, other than socks. They'll be quite fun to knit (and wear!) at school.
Before I start anything for myself, however, I need to start my little brother's birthday present. He's a real gamer, so I'm going to make a relatively old pattern from Knitty: bmp socks. I'll be using this yarn I just got from this cool yarn shop right by my grandmother's.The grey is Cascade 220, and it'll be the background, whereas the green (which is actually multicolored-each single is a different shade of green) will be the little bad guys and high score and such.
I have simultaneously cast on a get-well scarf for my science teacher. She joked about me making her a scarf last October or so, she even told me she liked navy blue. Since it was a half-joke, I didn't really consider to make one until recently. I got some mercenized cotton, and am making her a simple cotton scarf with an edging of border lace. I'm running out of yarn, however--I probably should have gotten two skeins of the stuff--oh, well. I now have an excuse to go to my grandma's again!

Clarification

I just reread this post, and I realised: I am turning into a real, honest-to-goodness teenager. I have way too many capitalized letters, exclamation points, and starry things in my writing. *GASP!!!!!!!!!*

Know when I wrote that last post? All of that stuff that I didn't even have the yarn for yet? THAT was my Christmas list of things to knit. Therefore, I did NOT have even close to my Christmas list done. Sorry for instilling misplaced anger in anyone at me for having everything done already. Truth is, I was WAY behind. I guess I should have been a little more clear on that.
Now, however, I have almost everything done.(Yay!)
Sooo, may I introduce, the A-mazing, the IN-credible, FINISHED OBJECTS!!!!

(*Insert Cheering Here*)

This is the cotton hat for that good friend in California. As you can see, there isn't any cool, funky button on it. That's because I don't have the button--yet. Perhaps this will be her New Year's Present, yes?

John's missing Christmas present and I have been reunited at long last, and everyone is happy that it is back--even Mister Green Fox! (What? You can't see the absolute delight and joy on his little carved face? I guess not...)

Last but not least, these are BBR and BGR's Christmas presents from me. The blue one was started last night, and was finished 4th period today. The pink one was cast on shortly after that, and was done by 8th period. In light of the holiday break approaching, our teachers obviously gave us a lot of down time.

The reason for my hurry? I was going to see the twins next door today, after play practice. However, practice was late, so I was not able to visit *sob*. I wasn't able to stop over on Tuesday, either--the other day I usually help out. But don't fret! You'll have adorable pictures of babies in hats before 8:00 tomorrow, I promise.

Now, for two interesting websites:
How to you woo the love of your life using just a semester of Spanish? Watch here.

Want to improve your vocabulary and help people in third world countries have food? You can play this fun game!

A Long Put-Off Post

Answers to the problems I had last post are highlighted.
Well. I've got a lot of catching up to do.
-I have to clean the gerbil cage,
-memorise (well, actually study) 20 lines of Shakespeare,
-figure out where I put my brother's and my dad's presents --which are knitted bow and long ties, respectively, since I didn't think I had enough handspun to double it back into fingerless gloves for my brother--
-get yarn for the babies (I'm making them hats, not sure of the pattern yet)
-and yarn for the friend (I do know what pattern, not what yarn)

I also started socks in this pattern, just as a relaxing complicated pattern, if that makes sense-it's Slippery Socks, a pattern by a TEEN KNITTER! I hope someday I could get into Knitty....You can't really see the colors, but it's pinks and reds

Hasta luego!

The Play Is Fun..

..but December is upon us. It's Christmas/Hannakah/Kwanza/New Year/Holiday knitting time!
This is my list of things to do before I got to bed tonight (yes, I only have a couple hours to do all of this):

1)Update blog (I'm doing that now, see?)

2)Check everyone else's blogs (If I haven't gotten to you yet, it means I've skipped this to do less important things such as sleeping and breathing in between other things on the list. I promise I'll catch up by Friday)

3) Study for science and math tests that are on Friday.

4) Decide what hat pattern for a friend of my moms--She lives in California and likes the color purple, so it needs to be a pattern thats a little more on the summery side... Ideas?

5) Decide what I'm going to do for BBR and BGR. They tried on their sweaters the other day and were SO CUTE in them...I don't have a picture, but at their mother's disgression and when the sweaters fit a little bit better, I might post one! Ideas are welcome in this department, as well.

6) Wrap the super secret presents--I'll be giving them to their owners on Saturday, which means pictures of them wearing them Monday...

7) Figure out what to give my little brother. The yarn I spun for the fingerless gloves is WAY too thin, it won't work, and I don't have any good store-bought yarn to use. Help!

8) Practice cello for at least 15 minutes

Hope your days aren't as hectic as mine!

Happy Birthday Little Brother!

Hooray!
I finished them in time!


Now, he's happily wearing them. One ended up being a tad too big, so I had to fix that (you can see how the slipper on the left is a little flat on the toe), but overall, they worked out!
Pattern:
I cast on the number of sts it would take to go from ankle around the heel to ankle on my wee widdle (he wanted me to add that!) brother, knitted in garter stitch till I got past his ankle, then knitted in garter stitch to the end of the foot, then decreased and threaded yarn through the remaining sts, pulled tight, then sewed up.

I Actually Figured Out How To Use The Camera!

With a little bit of poking around (aka pushing random buttons), I did it! Here's the WIP:
This will be a slipper for my little brother. I'm hoping I can make a pair in time for his birthday this Friday.

The slipper is not much to look at, but just wait until it's done!
The heel is in garter stitch, with the rest of the foot in stockinette stitch. I still have to knit an inch or two to compensate for my brother's foot. After that, I'll decrease for the toes. Then I'll sew it up.

This slipper is based on a pattern which was mentioned in my knitting calendar. When I first tried out the pattern, I misunderstood the instructions and used what was supposed to be the heel for a bit of length up the leg. I ended up with floppy tubes that had one end scrunched up. If you put them on, and then walk around for a couple minutes, they slip off. (They're still comfortable, though!) I'm hoping my brother's turn out a bit better.